Restless
by SiriusMarauderFan
Summary: Percy deals with the changes in his life after the war, while an old friend struggles with changes of his own. one shot.


**Author's Note:** So much thanks to my team for cheering me on and betaing!

Written for…

Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. _Team/Position:_ Falmouth Falcons, Seeker. _Task:_ Write about an injury

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**Restless**

_1,409 words_

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The Burrow was too quiet for Percy's liking.

He had agreed to move back home to reconnect with his family, to heal with them. His flat in London reminded him of ugly times and things he wished he hadn't said or done. Coming home seemed like the logical thing to do at the time. He hadn't realized things had changed.

In the absence of one brother, the household had become somber and dreary. As much as Percy had longed for peace and quiet from his rambunctious siblings in his youth, he found the sudden stillness of the house off putting. He suddenly longed to hear explosions and his mum's shouting.

He couldn't bear to bring this up to the family, of course. George was often locked away in his room, and the others were all finding their ways to cope with the loss outside of the house. Without a job to occupy him, Percy found himself trapped indoors with only his mum for company. He briefly contemplated leaving, but he knew it was out of the question. He abandoned them once and he wouldn't do it again if having him home helped. And where would he go?

What was he meant to do now?

:-:

The letter arrived at the start of July, when Percy was reaching his breaking point. With every passing night of uneasy silence, he grew more and more restless, sure he would explode at any moment.

Then the letter arrived early one morning, delivered by a large, unfamiliar tawny owl who left the moment it dropped the envelope by Percy's plate.

He didn't recognize the messy handwriting but tore into the envelope, his curiosity piqued. Through every fault of his own, Percy had lost contact with his few school friends during the course of the war, and he couldn't think of anyone left who would be writing to him.

_'Dearest Percy,_

_It's been so long since we last saw you. We were sorry to hear of your brother's passing. Please send our condolences to your parents._

_We understand it's been some time since you last spoke with our Oliver, and please understand that we aren't taking sides, but we have a favour to ask of you. Oliver was badly injured while defending Hogwarts. He's expected to heal well with time, but we're afraid his spirits have been broken after months of frustrating setbacks. He remains at St. Mungo's and refuses to come home with us. We hoped you would visit with him. You were always a voice of reason for him, and that's exactly what he needs in order to move past this injury. Please consider it._

_With love,_

_Heather and Dougal Wood'_

Percy sat in stunned silence while his family chatted about their day's plans in hushed tones around him, as if Fred was still asleep upstairs and they were afraid to wake him.

It had been at least three years since he'd last spoken to Oliver. He couldn't remember the exact circumstances of their final moments together, or the last words they'd spoken. He only knew that, between his internship at the Ministry and Oliver's reserve position for Puddlemere, their relationship became strained straight out of Hogwarts until it was nonexistent.

Their past did not impede on Percy's renewed sense of loyalty, however, as he informed his family that he would be visiting with an old friend that afternoon.

:-:

Waiting for the lift, Percy steeled himself for what he would find when he reached Oliver's room. The Woods' letter gave him no clues as to their son's injuries, and Percy's mind had wandered in a hundred directions since then. What if Oliver was disfigured or missing an eye? Percy had seen enough people physically changed by the war to know this was a very real possibility.

His preparation proved unnecessary as he found Oliver sat by the window of his room, looking just the same as he had when they'd shared a dorm. Percy paused in the doorway, second guessing his decision all of a sudden. What if Oliver didn't want to see him after so long? They had been closer than brothers once, but now…

"Perce?"

Oliver looked at him expectantly, brown eyes wide in surprise, and Percy lost the ability to speak.

"H-Hi, Oliver."

"What are you doing here?"

"I, er, heard that you were here and I thought I would see how you're doing. I brought you this." He pulled a bar of chocolate—Oliver's favorite—from the pocket of his robes and slowly walked toward the window to hand it to him. Oliver accepted it with a smile, placing the bar on his lap.

"Thank you, but you didn't have to come here. My parents sent you, didn't they?"

"What makes you think that?" He cautiously perched at the foot of the hospital bed, folding his hands in his lap.

"I've had an increase in visitors lately, mostly school friends. Suspiciously timed too. They started showing up right after I turned down my parents' request to move home."

"They're worried about you."

Oliver shrugged. "They mean well, but our plans for the future don't exactly align. Anyhow, I'm sorry they dragged you into all this. They must be really desperate to have gone to you."

"It's no trouble. I wish… I wish I'd known sooner." Percy fidgeted. There were a million questions swirling in his mind that he couldn't bring himself to ask. He didn't deserve the answers anymore. "I'm really sorry I haven't kept in touch."

"Merlin, Perce. I'm not _dying._ Don't be so dramatic."

"I'm not-"

"You are. Everyone comes in here and acts real serious and talks quietly about how much they love me, and how sorry they are, like my life's over. Everyone's given up on me."

Percy frowned. "Oliver. At the risk of overstepping here, what happened? Your parents didn't say…"

"They shot me out of the sky," he murmured, staring down at his legs. "Would've been fine if the curse didn't hit my spine. As it is, the healers aren't sure I'll ever walk again."

Slowly, he pulled his wand from the pocket of his hospital gown and waved it over his lap, cause the wooden chair to levitate. "This is how I'll be getting around for the foreseeable future. Mum says I should pack up, of course. Healers are telling me I shouldn't get my hopes up."

Percy swore, running a hand through his red curls. He'd never seen Oliver look so defeated, even after several consecutive years of losing the Quidditch Cup to Slytherin.

"There's got to be a chance. You can't give up."

Oliver let the chair float gently back to the ground, locking eyes with Percy. "I don't want to, but what choice do I have? Mum and Da won't let me go back to my place in Dorset alone, which means I need to quit the team, if they even still want me. I haven't been out of the hospital since the battle… I have no idea what's happening out there."

"That's all this is about? You need someone to stay with you?"

"Healers say it's safer if I'm not alone, just in case. But I can't ask someone to put their life on hold for me."

"Maybe you don't have to. Look, I know I was a pompous jerk before. I let my ambition get in the way of everything. I stopped talking to you, to my family. I ruined everything, and it's probably too late to fix things, but I want to try. Let me do this for you."

Oliver shook his head. "You're crazy. I'm not going to let you do this to earn my forgiveness or something. We were both at fault."

"What if it's good for both of us? I'm going crazy at home. Ever since… with Fred gone, it's just not the same."

"Wait, Fred died? Fuck, Percy. I'm so sorry." The chair moved closer to the bed, allowing Oliver to reach out and place a hand on Percy's arm. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You've had more pressing issues to worry about." Percy covered Oliver's hand with his own. "I need to get out of the house for a bit. You need someone to stay with you. You can't deny, I was a pretty good roommate once."

Oliver laughed. "You were the best. Okay, fine. You're hired. Your first job us to get me the hell outta here."

"Whatever you say, boss."


End file.
